World War, SOUTHERN THEATRE: Last Act in East Africa

Airplanes turned the trick in East
Africa last week. Resistance of the Italian Empire, which had appeared
to be stiffening, suddenly collapsed. Everywhere the extra factor which
made the difference was a clap of bombing and a clatter of strafing by
planes of the British Empire, for the British had learned the lesson
taught by the Germans in Poland, Norway and the Low Countries: that an
air force can be used in lieu of artillery to strike where artillery
cannot reach because of distance or rough terrain.